Harvard To Return Historic Standing Bear Tomahawk To Ponca Tribe

A historic tomahawk that once belonged to a Ponca Chief and pioneering Native American civil rights leader is being returned to the tribe.

The tomahawk, once owned by Standing Bear, has changed hands several times over the years. It's currently on display at Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, but not for much longer.

Harvard said it has been working with members of the Ponca Tribe in Nebraska and Oklahoma to get the artifact back to the tribe.

The conversation of who morally should have the weapon came about after Tulsa attorney, and descendant of Standing Bear, Brett Chapman wrote the university a letter saying the tomahawk should be returned.

In the late 1800s, the Ponca tribe was forced from their native Nebraska to present-day Oklahoma.

After several members of his family died, Standing Bear defied the U.S. government by leaving the reservation to go back north. He was arrested and that arrest ultimately led to a landmark federal civil rights decision.

“When he won, he had these two attorneys that represented pro bono…Standing Bear is so grateful, he gifts both of them with tomahawks, a headdress," Chapman told News On 6 back in May.

The attorney's family sold the heirloom after he died and it eventually ended up being donated to Harvard.

"We're in this time in our history where we're beginning this reconciliation with our own history, different viewpoints, different races, different cultures," said Chapman. "This tomahawk is very important to Ponca culture and Ponca history."

Jane Pickering, the museum’s director told the Associated Press that the tribe is hoping the travel to Harvard in September to view the tomahawk and a few other artifacts including a beaded necklace, quilled moccasins and a pipe.

Ponca's Nebraska tribe said it’s preparing a museum, which is located near Standing Bear's grave, where it will display the artifacts.